


when the days get colder

by qlito



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, Drinking, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:13:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27444679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qlito/pseuds/qlito
Summary: Billy Hargrove is dangerous.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 19
Kudos: 109





	when the days get colder

Billy Hargrove is dangerous.

Steve establishes this the first time he sees the guy, bare chest and beer running down his chin – sees it in the way Billy stares into his eyes, aggressive and daring, a promise for blood. He’s a louder, meaner version of the _king_ Steve used to be, and Steve is just tired, doesn’t want the fight he’s offering. He lets him know there’s no king to dethrone anymore, although he doesn’t explain how he stopped caring about status the day a girl drowned in his pool, and doesn’t ask how he’s supposed to care about anything other than the monsters lurking in his backyard. He does tell Billy he’ll gladly hand over the title, for all he cares. It’s been nothing but a burden.

Billy smiles, vicious, and pats Steve’s cheek, a little too hard to be taken as anything but a challenge. Even through his fingerless leather gloves, his skin feels like a furnace against Steve’s face.

“And where would be the fun in that, Harrington?”

He then turns to walk back outside, followed by Tommy – who seems to have found another self-absorbed bastard to drool over. Steve hears people chanting _Billy, Billy_ over the loud music, and the sinking feeling on his stomach has nothing to do with his fall from grace.

The next thing Steve learns about Hargrove is how determined he is to make his life miserable. He’s mean on the court, shoves Steve around and elbows him in the ribs, and talks so much shit that it’s impossible to focus on anything else. He doesn’t take no for an answer, just shoves harder when Steve ignores his antics, and laughs louder when Steve falls flat on his back. The hand he offers is mocking, and when he calls Steve a _pretty boy_ in the showers, it feels like a dare. Steve knows Billy’s trying to see how far he can push, how solid Steve’s apathy can really be. He will keep pushing until Steve cracks and calls him an asshole, or breaks his fucking nose. Steve wonders if he’ll ever get there, with how bland and unresponsive he feels these days, or if Billy will eventually get tired of his lack of fire and just move on, find someone else to pick a fight with.

It’s at the Byers’ where Steve finally reacts, when Billy’s hostility isn’t directed at him, and then he finds out just how dangerous Billy can be when a plate is smashed against his head. There’s blood on the scribbles laid out on the floor, and the sound of fists colliding against his face makes him want to throw up. The last thing he remembers feeling before passing out is panic. He thinks his skull might give out, and then he’d just die right there, leaving the kids alone with a feral Billy Hargrove and a bunch of flesh-eating hell dogs.

He wakes up in the back of a car driven by a thirteen-year-old, but he’s never felt so relieved in his life.

Steve doesn’t expect Billy to apologize, and he doesn’t need him to, either. He’s content with having been left alone. Billy doesn’t only stop antagonizing Steve, he also actively avoids him at school, as if their fight had been enough to soothe his need for conflict. Steve catches him staring at his swollen face across the hall one day, but his expression is unreadable and he quickly averts his gaze.

His split lip is almost fully cured and the bruises on his face are yellow and fading when Billy approaches him again, one afternoon while he’s waiting for Dustin outside the arcade. He’s got a black eye, way more recent than Steve’s, and he doesn’t speak at first, just leans against the Beemer and offers a cigarette. Steve takes it, cautious, and realizes how much smaller Billy looks when he’s not trying to be seen by everyone.

“Listen,” Billy finally says, turning to look at Steve for what feels like the first time in years. “Sorry. About your face and shit.”

It is, objectively, a terrible apology, but it’s also a peace offering from none other than Billy Hargrove. Steve wonders what that means.

“You look like shit too. Guess we’re even.”

Billy huffs out a laugh, nods and says _fair enough_ , and then they stay there, smoking in silence.

Steve does get a real apology after they become _friends_ , which is something that slowly progresses without Steve thinking too much of it. It starts with shared cigarettes between classes, and cold nights at the quarry when everyone else is hanging at Tommy’s – _I can’t be assed to put up with that bastard anymore, so I’m free if you wanna hang out._ They get drunk, bond over shitty childhoods and daydream out loud about leaving Hawkins after graduation. By the time February rolls around, there’s a weird but comforting feeling of companionship between them, and the passenger seat of Billy’s Camaro feels more familiar to Steve than his own couch.

Steve never thought he’d get to know this version of Billy – the one that laughs without malice and keeps blankets on his trunk because he knows Steve gets cold easily –, but he welcomes the shift.

The proper apology comes one night while they’re driving around. Billy’s at the wheel, speeding through deserted roads, and he quickly pokes Steve’s thigh to catch his attention before he starts talking about _trying to be better, you know?_ Steve learns just how shitty Neil Hargrove can be while Billy recalls the events of that night, and it doesn’t sound like an excuse, but a lot of things about Billy begin to make sense.

The most dangerous thing Billy does, by far, is brushing his hand against Steve’s on a July afternoon, too obviously deliberate to be an accident. It’s dangerous, because it’s been the only thing on Steve’s mind for months now, and it’s easy to forget about the world when you’re hiding from it. His touch lingers and Steve holds his breath, and it’s so dangerous that it turns into messy kisses against Steve’s door and a bed that’s no longer empty; when the days get colder, it becomes soft touches and words that feel like promises.

The light that used to reflect onto the pool and find its way into Steve’s bedroom, reminding him of death and keeping him up at night, no longer reaches him now that Billy’s there to close the curtains.

And yes, Billy Hargrove might be dangerous, but Steve has fought literal monsters, so maybe he can take the risk.

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my second harringrove fic, and my first time posting on ao3 since 2014 probably, so i'm a little nervous about it.  
> let me know what you think!   
> you can follow my harringrove tumblr blog https://naranha.tumblr.com/  
> thanks for reading <3


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